Lower household water bills

Barwon Water customers will receive an average of $80 off their water bills each financial year for the next four years thanks to the Victorian Government's Fairer Water Bills initiative.

The bill reductions will be delivered to Barwon Water customers from 1 July 2014.

Residential customers will receive total savings of $320 over the next four years. This will be delivered annually as:

$50 reduction from 1 July 2014

$80 reduction from 1 July 2015

$90 reduction from 1 July 2016

$100 reduction from 1 July 2017.

As part of the Fairer Water Bills initiative, the Victorian Government asked water corporations to provide productivity and efficiency gains to help deliver lower household water bills.

Barwon Water identified capital and operational cost savings without compromising service standards or existing hardship protections. This includes innovative technology for operations and maintenance, better scheduling construction of water feeder mains, more effectively targeting expenditure on communication activities and deferring capital expenditure on new infrastructure due to improved water efficiency.

Barwon Water is working closely with the government on identifying further savings for customers.

Since early April, contractors have been replacing a 990-metre section of pipeline along Queens Park Road, between the golf course and St Joseph’s College. The project is roughly 75% complete, and is on track for completion by the end of June, 2014.

Frequent SmartForm users include property developers, plumbers and real estate agents, as well as members of the general public.

What’s changed?

You can save forms to your computer. You can save a blank, completed, or partially-completed form to your computer as a PDF file.

You can use a partially-completed form as a template. If you regularly use the same form with many of the same details (such as your name and contact details) you can save the partially-completed form to your computer and use it as a template for future applications.

You can no longer use a Business Victoria account. If you previously logged in with a Business Victoria account, this is no longer available. There is no need to log in to complete a SmartForm.

The form links have changed. The updated forms have new links (URLs). You may need to update your bookmarks.

What stays the same?

The look, feel and functionality of the SmartForms is largely unchanged.

You should not experience any change in the high level of service you receive from Barwon Water as a result of the change.

What do I need to do?

Most users do not need to do anything.

If you have bookmarked frequently-used SmartForms in your internet browser, you will need to update your bookmarks.

If you previously used a Business Victoria account and login, this will no longer be available.

Apollo Bay's summer water restrictions a thing of the past

Stage 2 water restrictions will be removed in Apollo Bay, Skenes Creek and Marengo from 1 am, Monday 5 May 2013.

The Permanent Water Saving Plan will then apply across Barwon Water's entire serviced region.

Summer restrictions have been in place for many years due to the limited capacity of the Marengo basin and the seasonal tourist influx. But staged restrictions will be a thing of the past thanks to a new 250-million litre storage, complementing the existing 125-million litre basin and tripling the town’s water-holding capacity.

The new storage has been completed ahead of expected rainfall through winter and spring.

Under the Permanent Water Saving Plan:

hoses must be fitted with a trigger nozzle and be leak-free

gardens and lawns can be watered by hand at any time

sprinklers and watering systems can be used between 6 am and 10 am daily.